I recently attended an event that posed the question, “Is social media killing PR?” It’s been a very hot topic among PR firms like Horn Group (who hosted the event and has a vested interest in making sure the answer is “No!”); well-respected analysts, like Jeremiah Owyang from Forrester (who has a widely read blog himself and was on the panel) and a host of influential people from across the blogosphere. There’s no doubt that social media has shifted the ways companies gain publicity and raise general awareness – yet a universal objective remains constant – all companies launching products want to have their message heard and want to know, “What’s the best way to do it?” I am going to focus on how working with a PR agency to reach out to social media outlets actually enhances the overall public relations effort. I’ll use ExpertCEO’s formal launch as an example.
On October 21st, we launched ExpertCEO, a private online community for CEOs – we are a virtual CEO organization that has many of the same benefits as in-person CEO clubs like Vistage, YPO while offering unique advantages leveraging the web. For our launch, we worked closely with a PR agency, which happens to be the Horn Group. The team at Horn shared their keen industry knowledge and extensive media connections with us and enabled my team at ExpertCEO to do far more with far fewer resources than we could have on our own. Plus, Horn helped open many doors to people who were more receptive to our message due to their introduction (a bit like a social network “friend” referral). The day of the launch, our press release was picked up by a few publications and blogs. It gave us a nice bounce in visits to the ExpertCEO site along with some qualified member applicants. What we didn’t receive were any unique stories focusing on us – those who covered us just reprinted the press release without commentary.
But, just because our official launch date came and went, our PR efforts didn’t stop – working with our agency, we continued a dialogue with print media and bloggers to focus on unique stories. These proactive efforts paid off in the coming weeks, when several articles about ExpertCEO appeared in widely read and respected blogs. Once this happened, we experienced even greater traffic to the site and an increase in membership applications. We also met with key analysts like Jeremiah Owyang and Tim Harmon from Forrester. After meeting with us, Jeremiah’s Twitter feed sparked additional interest in ExpertCEO. Today, we have an ongoing exchange with print media and bloggers alike – in fact, we’ll have future guest blog appearances as a result of our initial flurry of press. And, each bit of blog coverage has an afterlife since it sparks an ongoing dialogue that continues to generate interest and awareness in ExpertCEO
The ExpertCEO story illustrates the critical role blogs and other social media outlets play in getting the message out to the market. And, having a knowledgeable public relations partner can prove invaluable in guiding a company through the ongoing process to a successful outcome.
